DENVER ? This week, eight of nine WAC schools are in action, with three school set to kick off its spring schedule for the first time. The No. 42 Boise State Broncos welcome Eastern Washington and No. 67 Utah to Boise on Feb. 8, while the No. 12 Fresno State Bulldogs make the trip to Madison, Wisc., to compete in the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Idaho heads to El Paso, Texas, to take on UTEP on Feb. 7, then continue on to Las Cruces, N.M., to meet Western New Mexico and Utah State on Feb. 9 and New Mexico State on Feb. 10. Louisiana Tech travels to Thibodaux, La., to compete with Nicholls State on Feb. 8 and heads to Hammond, La., to square off with Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 9. The Nevada Wolf Pack open up their spring season in Lubbock, Texas, to take on North Texas and Texas Tech, Feb. 9-10, while San Jose State also gets its season underway when they host Sonoma State, Feb. 8. The Aggies of New Mexico State welcome WAC foes Utah State and Idaho to Las Cruces, along with Northern Arizona, Feb. 8-10. The Aggies of Utah State will be in Las Cruces, N.M., also taking on Northern Arizona, UTEP, and WAC foes Idaho and New Mexico State. The Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine have two weeks off before returning to the courts Feb. 21-22 to take on San Diego and San Diego State.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK ? Utah State’s Britney Watts has been named the Western Athletic Conference Tennis Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 28 ? Feb. 3. This is the first career Player of the Week honor for Watts.
Watts, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, Utah (Cottonwood), clinched the fourth point and the victory for the Aggies, defeating Weber State, 4-3 on Feb. 2. Watts battled Wildcat Greyce Farias in a three-set match, winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, to help seal the Aggies’ first team victory of the season, topping Weber State, 4-3.
Boise State Broncos
Boise State finally got its spring season underway after matches scheduled between Idaho and Montana State were canceled due to inclement weather ... the Broncos traveled to Eugene, Ore., to take on the No. 58 Oregon Ducks, Feb. 6, and fell in a close match, 4-3 ... Boise State captured all three doubles matches to earn the doubles point, but were unable to fight the Ducks’ four-win effort in singles action ... Polina Kokoulina of Boise State fought through the No. 2 singles match, defeating Oregon’s Carmen Seremeta, 6-2, 7-6 (2) ... Jana Mackova also picked up a singles point for the Broncos, defeating Ana Cecillia Olivos, 6-4, 5-7, 1-2 (ret) ... the Broncos return home to host their season opener on Saturday, Feb. 9, in duals versus Eastern Washington and No. 67 Utah.
Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State has had a delay in its 2008 season as its first two matches against Nevada and No. 2 Stanford were rained out ... the Bulldogs have moved up to No. 12 in the nation and will get their season underway at the ITA Team Indoor Championships in Madison, Wisc., Feb. 7-10 ... Fresno State will meet a field nearly identical to last season’s NCAA Round of 16 which provides an opportunity for the Bulldogs to get an early-season taste of tough competition while competing for an indoor national title ... the Bulldogs will face No. 3 Northwestern in the first round in Madison ... juniors Melanie Gloria and Tinesta Rowe enter the championships as the nation’s No. 1 doubles tandem ... up next, the Bulldogs will travel to California to take on No. 2 UCLA and No. 36 UC Irvine, Feb. 15-16.
Hawai?i Rainbow Wahine
Hawai?i is still in search of its first dual match victory of the season, after falling to No. 26 BYU, No. 13 Baylor and No. 72 Washington ... Rainbow Wahine sophomore Sophie Kobuch has opened the spring season with several key wins, defeating No. 59 Anastasia Surkova of BYU, 6-4, 6-4, No. 13 Baylor’s Taylor Ormond, 2-6, 5-5 (15-0), (ret.) and No. 16 Katie Tybakova of No. 19 Florida State, 6-4, 0-6, 6-1 at the Hawai?i Invitational ... Kobuch won her fourth-straight singles match when she defeated Alabama’s top Tiffany Welcher, 6-3, 6-2, also at the Hawai?i Invitational ... the Rainbow Wahine will have two weeks off before returning to the courts, Feb. 21-22, when they take on San Diego and No. 50 San Diego State.
Idaho Vandals
Idaho had its matches versus Boise State and Montana State canceled due to inclement weather, Feb. 1-2 ... on Jan. 20, the Vandals swept Lewis-Clark State College, 7-0, earning their first victory of the 2008 season ... in singles action, Idaho took home victories in all six matches, all in straight sets ... up next, the Vandals will travel to New Mexico and Texas for five matches in four days ... Idaho will meet No. 63 New Mexico in Albuquerque on Feb. 7, before heading to El Paso, Texas, to take on the UTEP Miners, Feb. 8 ... the Vandals will finish up their weekend in Las Cruces, N.M., with dual matches versus Western New Mexico and Utah State on Feb. 9, before taking on the Aggies of New Mexico State on Feb. 10.
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Louisiana Tech returns from Nacogdoches, Texas, after being swept, 7-0, by both Stephen F. Austin and Texas-Pan American, Feb. 3 ... the tandem of Rocio Juarez and Ada Makowska fell 8-5 in the No. 1 doubles match to Sanjana Kapur and Mary Harrison of Stephen F. Austin ... Juarez also battled Kapur at the No. 2 singles position, falling in a tight 6-4, 6-4 match ... this weekend, Louisiana Tech will travel to southern Louisiana to tango with Nicholls State on Feb. 8 and Southeastern Louisiana on Feb. 9.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nevada had its spring opening dual match with Fresno State canceled due to inclement weather, Jan. 27 ... the Wolf Pack competed in the Cal Winter Invitational in Berkeley, Calif., Jan. 18-20, where Nevada sophomore Maria Mizyuk started off the spring season with a bang ... the No. 48-ranked Mizyuk knocked off Cal’s Susie Babos, the 10th-ranked player in the nation, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 ... the Wolf Pack will officially kick off their dual match season this weekend, heading to Lubbock, Texas, to take on North Texas on Friday, Feb. 8, and Texas Tech on Saturday, Feb. 9.
New Mexico State Aggies
New Mexico State comes off a loss to instate rival No. 62 New Mexico, 7-0 ... the Aggies opened up the dual match season with a sweep of Weber State on Jan. 25, making quick work of the Wildcats in a 7-0 win ... the Aggies won all six singles matches in straight sets ... New Mexico State fell 6-1 to No. 43 UNLV on Jan. 26, but rebounded and came back to defeat Pacific, 4-3 ... the win over the Tigers avenges a 7-0 loss to Pacific one year ago in Las Vegas ... the Aggies’ victory over Pacific was a tight one, as junior Stephanie Eusebe gave the Aggies the deciding point in a thrilling three-set match over Olga Gumenyuk of Pacific ... up next, New Mexico State will host WAC foes Utah State and Idaho, and also welcome Northern Arizona to Las Cruces, Feb. 8-10.
San Jose State Spartans
San Jose State will kick off its 2008 spring season Friday, Feb. 8, as the Spartans host Sonoma State in San Jose ... the Spartans are paced by seniors Ashley Tavita and Dana Popescu ... Tavita finished a strong fall season and will hold the No. 1 singles position again this spring ... Tavita notched two wins in consolation singles during the Stanford Fall ITA Tennis Tournament, topping Gonzaga’s Rika Mehndiratta, 6-3, 7-5 in the first round and then battled Lindsey McBride of Santa Clara for three sets before winning, 6-3, 5-7, 10-5 ... the Spartans will travel to Davis, Calif., on Tuesday, Feb. 12, to take on UC Davis.
Utah State Aggies
Utah State improved to 2-1 on the season after coming out victorious against the Idaho State Bengals in a 6-1 win, Feb. 6 ... the Aggies fell only in No. 1 singles, going on to win the next five matches ... Britney Watts defeated Ali Rivera of Idaho State, 6-1, 6-2, while the doubles tandem of Brianna Harris and Bridgette Strickland beat Lisel Lewis and Sophie Dang in an 8-4 match ... the Aggies also defeated Weber State in a close 4-3 match, Feb. 2, coming down to the final singles match where Watts battled Weber State’s Greyce Farias to three sets, winning 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, to claim the team victory ... this weekend, Utah State heads to Las Cruces, N.M., to tango with WAC foes Idaho and New Mexico State and will also battle Northern Arizona and UTEP, Feb. 8-10.
WAC TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP TO BE HELD IN LAS CRUCES ? This season, the Western Athletic Conference Tournament will return to Las Cruces, New Mexico on the campus of New Mexico State, April 24-27. The 2007 champion, Fresno State, will look to win its seventh-straight title. Last season, Fresno State took the title at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, defeating second-seeded Boise State, 4-0.
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